The Primary Pack: End Your Year Back to School Ready!

Happy almost summer, friends! It's Gina from Miss Peluso's Kindergarten and I am EXCITED to share with you some of my end of year thoughts!

If you're like me, even though the school year is just ending, you're already thinking about and planning for next year! If you're not, maybe this post will get you to start thinking about being ahead of the game! I chatted with some of my teacher friends as well as friends from right here at The Primary Pack, and I came up with a list of ten things that you can do as your school year ends to be A+ teacher ready in August (or September!)

It seems silly to be taking photos of your room AFTER school is over, but trust me, it will help you a ton at the beginning of the year! Most likely, your custodians will be emptying rooms to clean them out during the summer months, and you will need to let them know (or remind yourself) how you want your room to be set up afterwards. By taking photos of your room, you won't need to pull out your hair trying to draw a to-scale floor plan of your classroom! {Am I the only one who starts out drawing everything "to scale," and winds up not having room for things like the door?!} You can even take photos of your bulletin boards before you take them down so that you remember exactly what they looked like when you go to put them back up!

Take a few minutes to wrap your shelves with those large school garbage bags cut in half, or newspaper, so that your books and other materials don't get full of dust while your room is being cleaned! I was very confused when I saw some of my co-workers doing this last year, but they had the last laugh when I was dusting off my book bins in August!

Even though I am sure you have perfectly good intentions of completely planning the first few weeks of school over the summer, life will happen! Take some time at the end of the year to plan for your open house or first week and make the necessary copies so that you don't have to feel so stressed when the year starts. You will have plenty of other things to do, like label things with student names since class lists change a thousand times over the summer!

Hi, my name is Gina, and I've saved every sticker I have ever gotten since I was 4. My goal this summer is to purge anything and everything that I did not use in the past year. The Lisa Frank stickers are cute, but let's be real, I am not going to use the 3 stickers that I have in that shoebox in the closet. You will feel renewed and refreshed once you have gotten rid of all of the clutter!

Don't be the teacher I was at the end of the summer sorting through library books on the classroom floor by yourself. Sure, it was relaxing, but I could have been using my time to plan, laminate, copy, or do any of the other 57 things that I had to do. Your students {even my kindergarteners!} can help make sure that each bin in your library has the correct stack of books in it. What a great job for those little helpers!

Don't wash all of your classroom toys by hand! Save time by putting them in a pillowcase, tying it tight, and throwing it in the washing machine. Start off your year with a germ free classroom!

While you're busy planning and making copies for next year, make sure to prep extra of everything for new students and make a new student kit. Keep everything for one new student in a baggie, so when you get the inevitable new student the first week of school, you will be able to grab that bag, label everything with his/her name, and go!

As you file away your word work tubs, stock them with new supplies so that they are ready to go at the beginning of the year. It will be one last thing that you have to prep, and an easy thing to do while they are fresh in your mind!

While you're purging and organizing your supplies, make a list of things that you need to buy for the new school year. This way, when you see things on sale over the summer, you won't have to think, "I don't know if I need that…", you will be ready!

Once life gets busy in the summer, your goals may start to be put on the back burner. Make a list of the things you want to get done over the summer, so that you have a hard copy instead of a mental one! You are much more likely to get things done if they are written down {and you can check them off!}

Want to make sure you don't forget any of these tips? Grab a printable list by clicking the image below!